county

Cass County, IA

Demographic and economic profile of Cass County, IA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Cass County is a small agricultural county in southwest Iowa with a population of 13,115 and a 1.1% unemployment rate, reflecting a tight local labor market. The workforce of roughly 8,400 participants skews older (median age 43.5) and has a modest educational attainment profile — 21.6% hold a bachelor's degree or higher — with median worker earnings of $39,352 and housing costs that remain low, with a median home value of $133,300 and median gross rent of $769 per month. The county posted a slight population decline of 0.6% over five years, and a poverty rate of 17.4% sits above typical rural Iowa benchmarks, while a GDP per capita of $55,231 outpaces median household income of $63,013, suggesting output is concentrated in capital-intensive sectors rather than broadly distributed wages.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

13,115

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$63,013

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

43.5 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-0.6% since 2018

Cass County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone12,384 (94.6%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races193 (1.5%)
  • Some Other Race Alone121 (0.9%)
  • Black or African American Alone118 (0.9%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race115 (0.9%)
  • Asian Alone68 (0.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish156
  2. 2.Other Indo-European18
  3. 3.Arabic8
  4. 4.German or other West Germanic7
  5. 5.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)5

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

53.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

23.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

640

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$55,231

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$36,881

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

1.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

17.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,452
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)1,041
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)753
  4. 4.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining483
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services464

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations2,244
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations1,349
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,263
  4. 4.Service Occupations967
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations783

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 4.81×)509
  2. 2.Retail Trade (LQ 1.53×)1,102
  3. 3.Information (LQ 1.46×)182
  4. 4.Other Services (LQ 1.15×)359
  5. 5.Manufacturing (LQ 1.10×)726

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$133,300

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$769/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

71.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999552 (13.2%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999506 (12.1%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999417 (10.0%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999344 (8.2%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999326 (7.8%)
  • $60,000 to $69,999272 (6.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

21.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

93.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

63.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$39,352

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

15.1 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone5,216 (79.7%)
  • Worked At Home655 (10.0%)
  • Carpooled322 (4.9%)
  • Walked251 (3.8%)
  • Taxi51 (0.8%)
  • Other28 (0.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.